Drowning and Other Things
by Ponta-sensei
Summary: Tanuma is stupid and stuck. Natsume is only one of those things and it's not stuck. -a group of connected one shots starting with Tanuma getting stuck in the creek on a rainy night-
1. Very stupid and Very stuck

This was bad. This was very, very bad and very, very stupid. It was official, Tenuma Kaname had just done the stupidest thing a mentally conscious and sentient life form could do wile walking home through the forest, in the rain, alone at sunset. He had gotten himself stuck. Worse yet he was stuck waist deep in running water. It was his own fault, really. He'd gotten distracted by some odd shadows and walked too close to the fragile creek bed and it had slipped out from under him, sending him straight into the water and wedging his foot between an old, thick tree root and a large rock that had fallen when he did. Summary of the situation: Tenuma was stupid, fell in the water, and was now stuck there.

He didn't have very many options. He had already tried for half an hour to move the rock himself with no success. At least his foot didn't really hurt though he supposed it was probably just numb because he couldn't move it. The way things looked like there were three possibilities. Someone miraculously stumbling across him and helping him out of his watery shackles, no one finding him for so long that he gets too tired to keep standing above the water leading to him drowning there and making the news as the unrecognisable waterlogged body in the river, or there could be a flash flood from the recent rain, causing him to drown a lot quicker. Needless to say he was hoping for the first possibility. The third was his backup choice.

A shiver ran down his spine and he uselessly hugged himself in an attempt to stay warm. It wasn't a particularly cold evening, but being waist deep in an icy river just after sundown was never a warm business. There was another possibility, hypothermia. Though he doubted that one. After all as long as his chest was high and dry it would take hypothermia a long time to set in. The rain was only light so he wasn't exactly soaked. You've got to have optimism about this stuff.

The sun had gone down a while ago but it was only now getting truly dark. The idea of having to stand there in cold water for approximately twelve hours of darkness was honestly a bit disconcerting in Tanuma's books. He thought he might be a tad less worried if this had happened in the morning.

Tanuma's legs were already starting to get tired and he hadn't really been there for that long. The push of the current against his legs was more tiring than he had anticipated. For about the millionth time since he got stuck he tried tugging his foot out but no matter how roughly he jerked his leg it refused to move. He huffed lightly and stared down into the running water.

Suddenly a blearing light hit him in the face and he winced, shielding his eyes as he at tried to adjust himself to the sudden brightness.

"Tanuma...?"

Tanuma looked up, blinking against the light. Around ten metres ahead, standing by the creek bed, was Natsume. He was wet from the rain and he had a puzzled look on his face as he shon his flashlight into the stream. Tanuma sighed as a wave of relief washed over him before he realised the position he was in and his face lit up with embarrassment.

"Hi, Natsume." He replied, waving awkwardly from his place down in the water.

Natsume walked closer, hopping down from the bank to stand on a large rock protruding from the water hardly two feet infront of Tanuma."What are you doing out at this time? In the water?"

"Oh, well, you see," Tanuma began, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was walking home."

"In the creek?" Natsume asked in confusion.

"No, on the creek bed. I guess I walked too close and it crumbled." He pointed to where a chunk of earth was missing from the creek bed. "I fell in and, well, my foot got stuck."

Natsume blinked and shon the torch into the water where Tanuma's foot was wedged.

"Oh, are you okay? Does it hurt? How long have you been here?"

"Yes, no, and I don't know. Since sunset." Tanuma listed off. "But what are you doing here?"

"You're stuck in the creek and that's your concern?" Natsume asked with an amused expression.

Tanuma shrugged. "I've had a lot of time to get used to being here and now that you're here I don't really have to worry."

"I was helping a Youkai find her friend. Good thing I was or I wouldn't have found you." Natsume's brows furrowed. "I don't think I'm going to be able to move that. I'm going to have to call authorities."

Tanuma's shoulders slumped. "Really? I guess I should have expected it."

"Sorry, I know it's a lot more of a hassle but I don't see any other way." Natsume shifted. "I don't have a phone, though, so I'm going to have to go find one. You're house is pretty close, isn't it?"

"You're going to leave me here?" Tanuma pouted.

"I'm sorry, unless you have a phone.."

"Oh! My dad got me an emergency cellphone. It's always in my bag." He looked around and then frowned. "I hope I didn't drop it in the stream."

"Hold on." Natsume climbed from the rock back to the bank, shining the torch on the ground near where Tanuma had initially fallen. He was looking for a while before he smiled and reached into a group of shrubs, pulling out Tanuma's small carry bag. "Is this it?"

Tanuma's face lit up in a grin. "That's it!"

Natsume smiled and sat on the creek bed. Tanuma watched tentatively as he called for emergency services. For what seemed like a fairly simple problem they asked a lot of questions. The phone call lasted several minutes as they went over the location, Tanuma's state, what they were doing there, the water level, just about everything. It was sort of irritating. When Natsume finally ended the phone all he sighed and told his friend that help would be there in fifteen to twenty-five minutes.

"Sorry I couldn't just move it myself, you'd be out by now." Natsume apologised regretfully but Tanuma just smiled and shook his head.

"No, I should be thanking you. If you hadn't shown up I would have probably been here all night and who knows how long after that."

The creek bed was substantially elevated from the actual water so Tanuma had to arch his neck a fair bit to give him a friendly smile. He shivered again as he felt the flow of the water pick up. It was probably raining heavier further up stream.

Natsume suddenly looked incredibly guilty. "You must be freezing. Here." He put down the flashlight and began pulling off his coat.

"No! I'm fine you don't have to-" before he could finish his sentence, Natsume threw the jacket in Tanuma's direction and he was forced to fumble to catch it before it hit the water. It was already damp but it was good enough. "Thank you, Natsume." He gave in. Instead of putting it on he tarped it over himself to sheild himself from the rain. If he had tried to wear it properly the end would have been in the water. Speaking of the water, it seemed to have risen to his ribs. It had been a gradual rise so he hadn't immediately noticed it.

"Did you end up finding them?" Tenuma asked suddenly.

Natsume blinked. "What?"

"The youkai's friend, did you find them? You said you were helping a Youkai find her friend but you never said if you found them or were still looking."

"Oh." Natsume chuckled. "Yeah, we found him. Turns out he'd been taking a nap in a tree and slept a bit longer than he meant to. They didn't really need my help at all, they would have found each other just fine on their own."

"It was sweet of you to help anyway." Tanuma stated.

"I still don't understand why you were asking about that. You're stuck in a freezing river, it'd be understandable if you wanted to complain a bit."

"Well, I could complain. After all I am freezing, wet, tired, and I'm pretty sure my foot has fallen asleep, but I think I'd rather keep my mind occupied with other things." Tanuma joked with a small grin and Natsume laughed.

"Fair enough. What would you like to talk about, then?"

Tanuma tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I want to talk about," he paused with a smirk before pointing at Natsume. "You."

"Wha?!" Natsume fumbled awkwardly, face turning red. "Why me?!"

Tanuma chuckled at his friends embarrassment, having achieved the result he wanted. "Because I like talking about you."

"To talk about me, that's a very hard thing to ask." Natsume huffed, unamused with Tanuma's sense of humour.

"So is asking me what I want to talk about. If you don't like that, you could tell me a story?"

"A story?" Natsume asked skeptically.

"It's a joke. I was trying to start a conversation without having to pick a topic." Tanuma frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. "I don't think it worked."

Natsume snorted and broke out laughing. "I-I'm sorry!" He managed between gasps and chuckles.

"Hey, you're not the pinnacle of social grace either you know." Tanuma huffed but couldn't help but smile. He loved to see Natsume so carefree. It was a nice change from worried half smiles and distant looks. He spoke before he even thought about his words. "Your laugh is nice. If I weren't stuck down here I think this would be perfect."

"I think the cold must be getting to you." Natsume shook his head but smiled down at him nonetheless.

they remained in comfortable silence for a while after that. They weren't sure how much time past, neither bothered to keep track. Sometimes it just seemed better for them to be quiet. It wasn't awkward like nobody knew what to say. It was just their natural state or so it seemed. It was probably a good thing after Tanuma's spectacularly failed attempt at forming a conversation.

Tanuma closed his eyes and focussed on the sound of rushing water and the feeling of it flowing past him quickly and fluidly. It was cold and tiring, yes, but at the same time it was comforting. He had always loved this creek, ever since he had moved to the area. He sat by it often when he wanted somewhere to relax by himself. There were days when he would sit there for hours upon hours just listening to the flow of that water and yet it hadn't occurred to him until just this moment that he had never actually felt the flow on his own skin. He might just have to do this more often.

After a long while of listening to the flow of the water, something changed. The soft rush of water past his sides was no longer the only sound he could hear. Now there was something else, something more powerful and menacing. A harsh tumbling of water against water. Tanuma's eyes snapped open and as he turned he saw a look of horror sweep across Natsume's face. Tanuma didn't even get to fully turn to see what was coming before he was whacked in the back of the head by a swell of water that threw him off balance and pushed him under the now rapid water.

The impact and force of the oncoming water knocked him off of his feet. The only reason he hadn't been swept away was his still jammed foot. He had been jerked so roughly that he had instantly felt a snap in his ankle. His lungs were tight and he just barely managed to stick his face out of the water to take a gasping breath and yell a desperate command before being plunged under again. Any air he had managed to take in had been wasted with his shout but he didn't regret it. He knew Natsume and he knew what he was going to do. If nothing he was glad that he was able to tell him to stay back, he could only pray that he listened. Unfortunately his waste of breath was proved pointless. Only moments after he was swept under and he forced himself to open his eyes in an attempt to gain his bearings. Much to Tenuma's horror he managed to force them open just In time to see someone dive into the water after him. Natsume. If he had any air left in his lungs he would have screamed but it was impossible. His lungs were already burning and his head felt light. The last thing he remembered seeing was Natsume, in an act of inhuman strength, struggling against the current. He had one hand on Tanuma's leg and the other on the rock crushing it as he tried desperately to free him. After that there was nothing.

Tanuma had read in books that everything went black. He didn't think that was true. He was almost certain that wasn't the moment he blacked out, that was just the last memory clear enough to grasp. People didn't just black out like that while drowning. It was very hard to pass out holding your breath. It's more likely for someone to fail to hold on any longer and breathe in a lung full of water before truly passing out. Yet last he remembered he had yet to give in to the near to breathe. The rest was nothing. Not blackness, just nothing.

When he finally came too it was far from comfortable. It felt like someone was shaking him awake so violently that it was painful. Unfortunately when he actually came to a wakeful state he wasn't sure he even had control over his own body. His entire torso spasmed and tensed and he vomited what felt like too much liquid to have come from inside him. Then all of a sudden his body began breathing, something he hadn't even been aware the he wasn't doing. He was coughing and sputtering and there were hands on him, moving him onto his side and wiping liquid from his mouth as he struggled to get a full breath of air.

His stinging eyes cracked open and he could see again. The first thing he laid his eyes on was, much to his comfort, Natsume. He was alive and kicking, soaking wet but alright. He was on his knees some metres away. There was a blanket haphazardly over his Shaking shoulders and it appeared that he was being physically restrained by a man in emergency services uniform. His hand was over his mouth and there were tears spilling down his cheeks. It was pretty close to heartbreaking.

tanuma was shifted back onto his back and people were trying to talk to him. Telling him he was going to be alright and that they had a stretcher coming to get him to an ambulance. Tanuma didn't care. He smiled in Natsume's direction.

"Tanuma...?" Natsume practically begged.

"Hi, Natsume." Tanuma replied, weakly waving in his friends direction.

Natsume looked so indescribably releaved to hear his voice.

"You saved me?" Tanuma rasped, thinking back on the last thing he remembered seeing back in the water.

natsume shook his head but the man who had been holding him back spoke. "He managed to get you unstuck but we pulled you both out. He did save your life though, we don't know if we would have gotten you out in time."

Tanuma relaxed, breathing more steadily now.

"I guess I'm kind of lucky." He mused lightly. "I got my first choice and my second."

No one else really understood that, but Tanuma couldn't help but chuckle at his own joke.


	2. Mean doctors and missing pants

**More comedy in this one. This whole fix thing is going to have a weird combination of comedy and seriousness. Next chapter I think is going to be a serious one.**

"You stopped breathing for a long time. You inhaled a lot of water." The doctor reiterated sternly but was met with the same, unconvinced expression on the face of his young patient.

"I know. I was there." Tanuma agreed slowly. Currently, he was lying in a hospital bed, top half elevated into an almost sitting position. It had been a long and painful night. Right now he wasn't sure what had gone on after he was loaded into the ambulance. All he knew was there were a lot of painkillers, tests and invasive things. It was bad enough that they had stuck a tube down his nose at some point during the night but somewhere from the ambulance to his current hospital bed he had lost all his clothes and they had been replaced by some flimsy gown. He tried not to think about that fact too much.

"Don't be a smart ass, kid." The doctor rolled his eyes.

Tanuma made a slightly dissatisfied face at the comment. "It wasn't my intention." He assured. "I was just letting you know that you didn't really answer my question."

"You asked why you had to stay, I answered." The doctor shrugged, going back to checking the machines next to Tanuma's bed.

Tanuma was beginning to think that he had the worst luck in the world. First he gets his foot suck in a creek, alone on a dark and rainy night, next he was swept under and almost drowns, and now he's stuck in hospital with the worst tempered doctor he'd ever met. It was like his life was some lame drama comedy.

"I meant why does that mean I have to stay? What damage did that actually do?"

The doctor sighed agitatedly and turned back to his patient. "You know most kids don't care. They think 'oh, I almost drowned, the doctor will fix me.' And let us do our job. I really wish you were one of those kids."

Tanuma shrugged. "I've seen a lot of doctors. I know what to ask."

"Fine. If you must know we need to make sure that your bloodstream continues to get the oxygen it needs. Your brain function seems good and the scans seem to back that up but when you came in last night you were turning blue. You were breathing but not well enough so we put a tube in you. The reason you're still hear is to stabilise your body's respiratory system and to monitor you for any common infections and complications. You may feel hunky-dory or whatever but you're not. Your voice alone sounds like shit. You can leave in seventy-two hours. There you go. So do you have any more questions or can I get on with my job?" The doctor lectured, sounding a rough mixture of bored and annoyed.

"Just one." Tanuma admitted.

"What?" The doctor snapped.

"Am I going to get my clothes back? I kind of need them. I was in my school uniform."

The doctor gave him a look which said he was looking at the stupidest kid to ever get his butt hauled into the hospital. And there were a lot of stupid kids landing themselves in hospitals these days. "I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and chalk you're stupidity up to the fact that you've had so many painkillers over the past seven hours I'm surprised you aren't drooling and chewing on your own tongue."

"Thank you?" Tanuma decided to leave out the fact that once again the doctor had failed to answer his question. It didn't matter, he'd find out about his clothes at some point.

"Your welcome." The doctor replied blandly. glancing at the clock on the wall. "Hm. Eight already? Be expecting visitors soon."

"Huh?" Tanuma tilted his head slightly.

"You must attract idiots because there's been a group of people down in the waiting room for you. They came a whole hour too early."

It was meant to be an insult but the mention of visitors there to see him so early made him feel unpredictably happy. He thought that perhaps he should feel bad for troubling them but he honestly couldn't bring himself to have a negative thought. There were people in that waiting room who cared enough to come to the hospital so early in the morning just to see him. A silly little smile touched his lips at the thought. He really just couldn't help himself.

"Geez, kid, don't get too excited. We don't want you having a heart attack."

At that moment there was a knock on the door and the doctor dropped Tanuma's chart into the tray at the end of his bed.

"Thank god. They'll get you off my back." The doctor walked towards the door. "I'll come back after visiting my other patients. Don't touch anything. Kids like doing that and they always mess things up so just don't." He turned and opened the door. "He's all yours. Have fun." And with that he left the room and let in a small hoard of visitors.

First came Taki, carrying probably the biggest bunch of flowers Tanuma had ever seen. Next was Kitamoto and Nashimura side by side each carrying a bag full of snacks. Finally there was Natsume, closely followed by Touko. Natsume looked understandably tired. He'd had almost just as long a night as Tanuma had. When Tanuma had be dragged off to the hospital Natsume was taken too. He had only gotten a brief check up before being sent home but it was still late before he was actually home in bed. Tanuma hadn't seen him since they were separated upon arrival at the hospital and he was glad to see him doing well.

"How are you feeling?" Taki asked first as she placed her armful of flowers at his bedside to which Tanuma gave a sincere thanks.

"What's the damage?" Kitamoto added before Tanuma could answer the last question, gawking at all of the machines.

"Yeah, Natsume told us what went down but you've got to tell us the details." Nishimura agreed.

"Hey, now." Touko stepped in, shushing them all. "One question at a time. You don't want to overwhelm the poor boy."

"Thank you, ms Fujiwara. It's okay, really." Tanuma assured. "I'm feeling good but I've had a lot of medication so I don't really know if I should be in pain or not. I'll try remember everything the doctors have said but I've likely forgotten a lot. Well, for one, there's the broken ankle. Other than that there's something about my lungs which is I guess why I've got this." He tapped the tube that went into his nose. "Something about oxygen circulation and the water washing out the surfa-something. Also something about turning blue. But no brain damage, which is good. Basically I'm fine, I just have to stay until they're sure I'm not going to get some sort of infection. A nurse talked to me about some of the common complications but I've mostly forgotten. She said I mostly just had to be worried about ARDS but I honestly have no idea what that means." Tanuma rambled. He really wanted to slap himself right now. He mustn't have been as clear headed as he thought he was since nothing he said seemed to make anything resembling sense. The doctor was right, he was an idiot.

"Acute respiratory distress syndrome." Natsume blurted suddenly, earning an odd look from the others. He flushed slightly. "ARDS, it means Acute respiratory distress syndrome."

"Oh." Well that made sense. "How did you know that?"

Natsume shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, averting his eyes. "I couldn't sleep when I got home last night so I, uh, googled recovery from near drowning. It's listed as a high risk factor."

"I thought you went straight to bed when you got home, Takashi." Touko scolded lightly.

"Sorry, I was just worried. I wanted to answer some of my own questions."

"It's probably for the best." Tanuma admitted, "I don't think I'm giving very good answers and I can tell you now my doctor hates taking questions. I actually think he just hates people."

Everyone laughed at Tanuma's musings, though it wasn't originally meant to be a joke. He really did think that his doctor did just hate people. Poor guy chose a tough career for someone who is the opposite of a people person. Still, it was kind of rude of him to call Tanuma a stupid smart ass. And contradictory.

"Oh, Kaname, dear." Touko spoke up again. "I've talked to your father personally. He's coming home early from his trip to make sure you're okay. He said he'd be in by late today though he's unsure if he'll make visiting hours."

"I hope he makes it in time. If he doesn't he's just going to have more time to work himself up and when he finally does get in he's never going to close his mouth again."

Natsume chuckled. "I think he might be a bit stricter about you taking shortcuts through the forest alone, too."

"That's stupid. It's already happened to him once what's the chance of it happening again?" Nishimura commented thoughtfully and Kitamoto nodded in agreement.

"I think it's reasonable." Taki disagreed. "I mean, if Natsume hadn't shown up he'd be dead right now. Even I don't want him walking through the forest alone anymore."

"I could always walk you home." Natsume offered genuinely. From anyone else it would have come out like a condescending joke but it sounded like Natsume was actually offering to walk him home everyday.

Kitamoto snorted but Touko ruffled Natsume's hair, commenting on how cute he was saying things like that. Everyone laughed at the scene. Well, everyone except for Tanuma. He had tried but the jolting made his nose tube hurt so he thought it would best just to give an amused smile. Which he did with no problems at all. After that they fell into a casual chatter. At one point or another someone noticed the tray of hospital food by the bed. It had been delivered at seven but Tanuma hadn't touched it. To be honest just looking at it made him loose his appetite. Everyone always joked that hospital food was bad which was more or less correct. It wasn't really that bad, Tanuma was probably just over reacting. Whatever the case he just couldn't bring himself to eat it. Upon this realisation he was thrusted upon with several junk food items from the bags Nishimura and Kitamoto had brought in with them. Somehow he felt wrong eating junk food in a hospital but in the end he was too hungry to deny it. He was half way through a chocolate flavoured protein drink, which he suspected was just chocolate almond milk with fancy packaging, when one of the machines at his bedside began droning incessantly.

"What? What does that mean?" Natsume blurted worriedly.

"In the movies it usually means the patient is dying." Kitamoto commented.

"I don't think I'm dying, at least it doesn't feel like I am?" Tanuma replied, poking the straw in and out of the cardboard container of milk. "Wait, I think this happened once early this morning. It means that the machine is out of painkillers. A nurse usually comes and fixes it."

"The machine gives you painkillers? For some reason I always thought they'd do it with needles." Taki mused.

"Not far off. They just don't take the needle out, see?" He showed them his hand which had a disgustingly thick needle stuck in the upper side. It was basically taped to his hand so it didn't fall out and was attached to a long tube. Everyone in the room, bar Taki, cringed at the sight.

"Can I touch it?" Taki asked casually and everyone eyed her like a crazy woman. Tanuma shrugged and was about to tell her to go for it when a short and pudgy nurse hurried into the room.

"Clear a path, everyone." She droned as the visitors separated to let her through. She wasted no time replacing an empty bag with a full clear bag of liquid in the IV machine.

"Excuse me, but do I really need more? I feel fine." Tanuma really just didn't want to get any more air headed than he was already.

"Why do you think you feel fine? If you let this stuff leave your body trust me, you're going to feel it. Your legs, your chest, your face. Trust me, you're going to feel it." The nurse corrected him easily.

"My face?" Tanuma's eyebrows furrowed. "Why my face?"

"Have you not looked in a mirror? You have a black eye, hun. Those usually hurt."

"What?" He looked to his friends in confusion. "I do?"

"Uhh." They all averted their eyes awkwardly. "Kind of?"

"Is it really that bad?" Tanuma slumped his shoulders. "But why? I didn't hit my face."

"It happens sometimes while doctors are putting in nasal tubes." The nurse explained. She pressed a few buttons on the machine and the beeping stopped. She turned and headed out while saying. "Don't worry kid, it'll heal and you'll get your pretty face back in no time."

"So your doctor gave you a black eye?" Taki raised an eyebrow. "That's kind of funny."

"Knowing him he probably did it on purpose." It was mostly just a joke, but Tanuma really wouldn't put it past him.

* * *

Over the next hour almost everyone had to leave. Unfortunately due to homework and prior engagements most of them left around nine thirty. In fact, the only person who had stayed was Natsume. Touko had taken the others home but on his request she had let Natsume remain behind. Really, Natsume felt bad leaving Tanuma all alone in a hospital. Natsume honestly hadn't been to hospital many times and even he knew it was horrible to be left alone. Tanuma himself had spent some time in hospital in the past. Things like pneumonia and tonsillitis when he was young, so Natsume was sure he knew how lonely it could get.

However, right now Natsume was pretty sure nothing could bother him. It was now about ten thirty and half an hour ago Tanuma had begun feeling some pain and had his dosage raised. Natsume hadn't really expected much to come of it. It was just meant to make the pain go away. Natsume wasn't exactly entirely correct. It did take away the pain so he wasn't wrong, but it also appeared to take away Tanuma's sense and inhibitions. Currently Tanuma was bubbling on about something or another. As far as Natsume could tell he was trying to recount a dream he had about a frog when he was nine. He wasn't doing a very good job at it. He couldn't even stop himself from giggling at his own story every five seconds. It could have been annoying but Natsume just found it endearing. Endearing and very funny.

"Frogs are cute." Came the conclusion of Tanuma's rambling. "Don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess." Natsume chuckled.

The door opened behind him and Natsume craned his neck to see who had come in. It was a doctor. A blonde doctor with an extremely unamused expression on his face though Natsume thought it was a permanent thing rather than him having something specific to be annoyed about.

"You're still here? Damn your persistent. You've been hanging around since seven AM." The statement was directed at Natsume.

"Welcome back, Senseeeiii." Tanuma waved as he stretched out the title. "Did you find my pants?"

Okay, Natsume was going to have to ask about that second part later.

"Geez. What the everloving fuck happened to you?"

"The black eye? Yeah, I know right? The mean doctor did it. Wait." Tanuma stopped, eyes narrowing at his own words when he realised that he was currently talking to the mean doctor.

"Be careful or I'll give you another." The doctor warned. "I was talking about your behaviour. I mean, hell, you were stupid before but this is just painful to watch."

"Excuse me." Natsume stepped in. "Shouldn't you be a bit nicer? He is your patient after all."

"As a doctor my job is to tell him exactly what's wrong with him." The doctor stated firmly. "And what's wrong with him is he's an idiot. I'm just doing my job."

Tanuma snorted but Natsume wasn't sure if he liked Tanuma's doctor being so mean.

Any thoughts on the matter were interrupted when Tanuma coughed. It was only one to begin with before progressing into what could only be called a coughing fit. Natsume stood up, intending to help before he realised that he actually had no idea what to do. He ended up just standing there staring worriedly at his friend with no clue what to do with himself. Was he meant to comfort him? Touch him? Talk to him? He really couldn't figure it out for the life of him.

Meanwhile the doctor rolled his eyes. "Come on, idiot." He sighed a tad less harshly than before. He walked to stand directly beside Tanuma, opposite Natsume, and put an arm over the coughing boys chest and under his arm, he then hauled him up and held him so that he was leaning forward rather than back. He pointed at a white plastic bag on the table and instructed Natsume to hand it over. Natsume complied quickly and the doctor shoved it into Tanuma's hands and told him to hold it in front of his mouth, which he did. Once that was done the doctor hit Tanuma's back methodically with his free hand, rubbing it in an upward motion between solid hits. It wasn't long before Tanuma retched and released a mouthful of fluids into the bag. He coughed a few more times but it died down after that. The doctor carefully shifted Tanuma back into his original position and took the bag from his hand.

"You're alright now, just relax kid." He said in a surprisingly soft tone.

Tanuma nodded but didn't speak as he was still catching his breath.

"What was that?" Natsume enquired, eyeing the bag that the doctor then proceeded to tie up and throw out.

"It's not unusual. His body is just still getting rid of excess water. It probably won't happen again but if it does call a nurse and they'll take care of him. I'm kind of glad it happened while I was here. Nurses can be rough and its best we don't jolt him around too much." The doctor explained.

Natsume nodded silently. Okay, so maybe he was a bit rude, but he didn't seem like an intrinsically bad person and definitely not a bad doctor. He had dealt with Tanuma surprisingly gently for his harsh first appearance. Natsume looked back to Tanuma and surprisingly found he had fallen asleep during the doctors explanation.

"I'm going to lower his dosage. They increased it by too much. It's not too bad, I guess it got him to sleep. Despite everything I don't think he actually really slept at all last night. Like I said, he's kind of stupid."

"Yeah, maybe." Natsume hummed. "But so am I"


End file.
